Ventilating unit



May 23,1939. E Y' Y 2,159,913

. VENTILATING UNI'I Filed March 10, 19:56 I 2 sheets-sheet 1 I] Tenne y,

May 23, 1939 n. TENNEY -VEN ILATING UNIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March'10, 1936.

MW J N L Q m M I #7 J M Jmli Patented Ma 23,1939

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a ventilating unit which may be used eitherfor heating or cooling.

the air within an enclosure and which maintains the air in constantcirculation. An object of the invention is to devise a ventilating unitwhich will distribute the air uniformly throughout an enclosure andwithout pronounced drafts.

Another object of the invention is to devise a unitary ventilatingapparatus which maintains the air in constant circulation within anenclosure and in which freshair may be added to the recirculated air. rA further object of my invention is to devise a unitary ventilatingapparatus embodying a heat exchange coil and a motor driven fan arrangedfor eflicient transfer of heat to or from the air and in which theoperation is without objectionable noises or vibrations. Still anotherobject of my invention is to devise a unitary ventilating apparatusembodying a heat exchange coil with a motor driven fan associatedtherewith and to provide for the removal of the motor and fan from theunit without disturbing the mounting of the heat exchange coil and its'connection to its source of energy.

A further object is to devise a unitary ventilating apparatus in which aheat exchange coil is enclosed within a housing the exterior surface ofwhich is arranged to act as a guiding and directing surface for the airstream created by the fan.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view, partly in section, illus- .trating oneembodiment of my invention;

Figure 1a is a fragmentary view showing=the header element in elevationon a slightly reduced scale from Figure l. I

Figure 2 is a sectional view of Figure 1 taken along line 2-2;' I

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of a second modification of myinvention; and

Figures 4, 5 and 6 are elevational views, partly in section, and on areduced scale, showing three different ways of mounting the ventilatingunit. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the ventilating unit consists of twoannular dish-shaped housing members I and 2 maintained in spacedrelation by a number of tie bolts 3. Mounted within the space betweenhousing members I and 2 is a series of spaced heat exchange tubes 4which are of annular shape and the ends of which are secured in oppositesides of a divided headeri, as shown in Figure 1, thus forming anannular heat 65 exchange coil between housing members I and 2.

The left side of the header shown in Figure l is provided with an inletpipe connection 5a while the right-hand side is provided with an outletpipe connection5b. The connections 5a and 5b are located at oppositeends of the vertical header so that the header may be operated in eitherposi tion, the lowermost connections in any case serving as the outletconnection (see Figure 1a). By means of these-pipe connections, asuitable heating or cooling medium may be introduced into the unitthrough the connection 5a, circulated through the heat exchange pipes 4,and passed out of the unit through connection 5b. The tubes 4 areprovided with spaced radiating fins 4w which are arranged in planesradial to the'axis of the unit and which serve to increase the heattransfer efiiciency of the unit.

, Mounted Within the central circular opening of one of thehousing-members is an annular plate or a ring 6, and this ring isprovided with four ver- 20v tical brackets I extending into the centerof the unit, and each bracket is provided with a horizontal arm Ia and avertical arm lb. The ring 6 is supported within the unit by suitablecoil springs 8 secured respectively to the housing 25 member I and tothe vertical arm lb by means of suitable screw eyes as-shown. Anelectric motor 9 is suspended within the central opening of the unitfrom the horizontal arms Ia on the brackets 1. The motor shaft extendsupwardly 30 along the axis of the unit and carries at its upper end ablower or fan formed of a circular plate III carrying radial blades Illaand lb arranged on opposite sides of the plate Ill. The circular plateI0 is preferablysolid, so that the fan in effect is 35 a double fan. Thecentral opening in thelower housing member 2 is closed by a suitableplate II. If desired, a cylindrical grill member I 2 may be supportedbetween the housing members I and 2 at the peripheral edges thereof,although this 40 grill is not necessary. If desired also, a ring ofsuitable sound insulating or deadening, material I3 maybe.,inserted'within,the central opening of the housing member I tomaintain the ring 6 in proper spaced relation and to prevent undue 45vibration of the motor and fan support. The housing members I and 2 aremade exactly alike, and the lowermost housing member serves both as ahousing member and also as a drip pan for collecting condensate whichmay drip from the 50 tubes 4 when the unit is being used as a cooler.For the purpose of removing this condensate from the unit, .each housingmember is provided with a threaded pipe connection (I a and 2a) throughwhich the condensate may be withdrawn and conducted by a pipe to asuitable point of disposal.

Figure 6 illustrates one method of mounting my ventilating unit adjacentthe ceiling of a room orenclosure. For the sake of simplicity the pipeconnections for supplying the heating or cooling medium and forconducting the condensate away from the unit have not been shown. Asshown, the unit is suspended from the ceiling of the enclosure by meansof suitable rods I l secured to the housing member I and to the ceiling15. A circular opening A is formed in the ceiling immediately above thefan l0, and this opening communicates with two ducts B and C formed inthe ceiling construction. Suitable dampers B and C are provided forcontrolling the flow of air in these ducts. Duct B may lead to a pointfor supplying fresh outside air to the unit, while duct C may lead to apoint to supply to the unit air from a remote point in the room orenclosure. It is obvious that both ducts are not necessary, and only oneduct may be employed if desired.

In the operation of the arrangement shown in Figures 1, 2 and 6, thelower blades on the fan I0 set up a stream of air which is drawn fromthe ambient atmosphere through the annular heat exchange coil formed oftubes 4, passes into the central part of the unit, then upwardly throughthe central opening 60. in the plate 6, and is then impelled radiallyoutward in all directions in the ambient atmosphere by the blades I01).I have discovered that the smooth rounded shape of the housing member I,extending radially outward from the periphery of the fan, in cooperationwith the ceiling of the room, apparently acts as a diffusing nozzle forthe fan and causes some of the air stream to be guided and directed in adownwardly direction as indicated by the arrows in Figure 6. In otherwords, the shape of the coil casing l beyond the peripheral edge of thefan Ill appears to function as a guiding and directing surface for theair stream which gives a diffused and substantially uniform flow of airthroughout the enclosure without objectionable drafts. The effect is asif part of the'air stream clings to the curved surface of the housingmember 1 ,and is deflected downward.- If the dampers B and C are closed,the ventilating unit merely serves to recirculate the air in theenclosure, but if one or the other of these dampers is open, the upperpart of the fan draws air through the open duct and causes it to flowradially outward from the fan in all directions and to mix with thetempered air which is drawn through the unit by the lower part of thefan. By suitably adjusting the dampers B or C, any desired mixture ofair can be obtained within certain limits.

By attaching the springs 8 to the screw eyes provided on the housingmember 2, the unit may be inverted and operated adjacent the ceiling l5of an enclosure with the fan below the coil, as shown in Figure 4 of thedrawings. In this arrangement, the blades on the upper side of the fanserve to draw air through the unit and radiate the same radiallyoutward, while the lower half of the fan serves to set up a continuouscirculation of ambient air within the enclosure without passing itthrough theheat exchange coil. 1

Figure 5 illustrates another method of mounting my ventilating unit inwhich the heat exchange coil is located above the ceiling of the room orenclosure, and only the fan is visible from the room. This arrangementis well suited foruse on board ship where the ceiling heights are lowand where it is important to conserve all available space. In thisarrangement the heat exchange coil is mounted in-the space between thedeck beams I6 and above the false ceiling l5. In this arrangement,suitable grills may be formed in the false ceiling through which airfrom the room may enter and flow through the heat exchange coil, or ifdesired, suitable ducts may be provided in the ceiling space leadingfrom an outside source of air. The grills in the false ceiling may belocated adjacent the unit or at points remote from the unit.

Referring to Figure 1, it will beseen that by removing the cover plateII .and by disconnecting the lower ends of coil springs 8 from the armlb, the ring 6 with the attached motor 9 and fan H] may be passedthrough the coil and removed from the unit without disturbing themounting of the heat exchange coil and its connections. Thisconstruction is very convenient for cleaning the unit as well as forinspecting and repairing the motor and fan;

In Figure 3 I have shown a modified arrangement for mounting the motorin the unit. The construction is generally like that illustrated inFigures 1 and 2, and the same reference characters are employed todesignate corresponding elements in the two arrangements, but instead ofmounting the motor 9 from the ring 6, it is mounted upon a spider i lawhich may be formed integral with the cover plate ll. If desired, thespider Ha may be formed as a separate element from the plate I. InFigure 3, the ring 6 is supported from the housing member Iindependently of the motor by means of suitable screws 6b. In thisarrangement also, the motor 9 and the fan in may be removed from theunit without disturbing the heat exchange coil, and the unit may beoperated in inverted position without the necessity for making anychanges in the motor mounting. One advantage of the construction ofFigure 3 over that of Figure 1 is that the motor mounting does not offerany obstruction to the flow of air through the unit.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have devised a unitary airtempering and ventilating device which is especially useful for mountingat the ceiling of a room or enclosure, and which operates to set upuniform circulation of the air in all directions throughout theenclosure. It will be understood'that the unit need not be mounted uponthe ceiling but might be mounted upon a pedestal at a convenient heightabove the floor ofthe room.

It will be understood by those skilled infthe art that thecharacteristics of the fan in drawing air through the tempering coil maybe controlled by controlling the size of the aperture in the aperturering or plate 6. With the constructions illustrated, it is possible tosubstitute one plate for another and by supplying the user with plateshaving different sizes of apertures, the desired size of aperture may bereadilydetermined for any given installation.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that the housingmembers I and 2 and the plates 6 and II constitute bafile members forrestricting the fiow of air through the unit and causing the same topass through the tempering coil. The outside surface of the housingmember I also serves as a baflle member for directing the flow of airfrom the fan I0, and the ceiling of the enclosure also acts as a bafflemember or surface in directing or guiding the flow of air stream createdby the fan. In the arrangement shown in Fig. 6, the ceiling of the roomin which the unit is mounted, together with the curved housing member Ifrom an annular nozzle for the fan having a cross-section whichincreases from the peripheral edge of the fan outwardly. As alreadyexplained above, this construction facilitates the downward distributionof the-air within the room.

In the appended claims the term radial fan is to be interpreted to applyto a fan in which the air is distributed radially in all direction fromthe fan.

Various modifications of my invention will be obvious tothose skilled inthe art, and all such modifications as fall within the terms of theappended claims are considered as falling within the scope of myinvention.

What I claim is:

1. A unitary air tempering and ventilating device comprising an annulartempering coil, a pair of annular oafile plates mounted on oppositesides of said tempering coil leaving the periphery of said coil exposedto ambient atmosphere, a radial fan arranged parallel with one of saidannular bafile plates and opposite the central opening therein, a motordetachably mounted within the central space of said annular coil fordriving said fan, and a removable cover plate for the central opening inthe other baflie, the central openings in said baflies and the centralspace in said coil being of larger diameter than said fan whereby saidfan and motor may be removed through said baffles and coil withoutdisturbing the mountings and connections thereof.

2. A unitary air tempering and ventilating dc-. vice comprising anannular tempering coil, a housing for said coil comprising a pair ofannular baffle plates mounted on opposite sides of said coil, an annularaperture-plate removably mounted within the central opening of one ofsaid baflle plates, a motor mounted upon said apertureplate and arrangedwithin the central space of said annular coil and having a shaftextending through the opening of said aperture-plate, a radial fanmounted on the end of said motor shaft opposite the opening in saidapertureplate, and a' removable cover plate for the central opening inthe other baflie plate, the diameter of both the aperture-plate and thefan being smaller than the diameter of the central openings in saidbattles and the internal diameter of said coil whereby saidaperture-plate and the elements mounted thereon may be removed from theventilating device by passing the same through the housing of thetempering coil without disturbing .the mountings thereof and theconnections to the coil.

DWIGHT TENNEY.

